Counter molding machine



Dec. 31, 1940. c. w. BAILEY COUNTER MOLDING MACHINE Filed De 8 1959 Patented Dec. 31, 1940 UNITED STATES COUNTER MOLDING MACHINE Charles W. Bailey, Lynn, Mass, assignor to Stewart Bros. Inc. of Lynn, Lynn, Mass, a corporation ofMassachusetts Application December 8, 1939, Serial No. 308,173

' 3 Claims. (o1. 1266) The present invention relates to machines for molding the shoe stiifeners, or counters, universally used to stiifen and reinforce the rear ends of shoe uppers. In particular my invention consists 5- in an improved mechanism for forming and set- 1 type of molding machine. Counter molding machines include "a center mold or plug formed in the shape of the rear end of a shoe last, and a pair of swinging side molds which cooperate with the plug to shape a blank of leather or fibre inserted between them. While the blank is bei gripped and shaped by the molds a wiper plate is moved down across the outer faces of the molds to turn th protruding marginal portion of the blank and iron it down to form a flange substantially perpendicular to the side walls of the molded counter.

' When the counters being'molded are to be used in low heeled shoes, the flange is substantially straight, and a flat wiper plate is suflicient to form the flange inasmuch as the outer faces of the molds lie in a single plane, but in high heel shoes the extremities, or wings, of the counter must be curved sharply downward in the shoe, and a simple wiper plate is not suflicient for forming the curved flange desired in such counters.

- One important object of my invention is to provide an improved flange wiping mechanism capable of forming and setting a downwardly curving counter flange.

A further object of my invention is to provide a curved-flange wiping mechanism which may be operated at high speed and with adequate pressure and which will not injure the material of the'counter.

An important feature of my invention resides in an auxiliary wiper or curved shank fit wiper arranged to yield bodily under pressure and also to rock or rotate on its mounting against resilient resistance in following the curved face of the molding dies and having in its face a recess for gathering and shaping the rear marginal portion of the counter blank. A wiper so organized is thus adapted for use with an assortment of diiferently shaped center molds.

These and other objects and features of my invention will be more readily understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which: 5

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a wiping mechanism constructed according to my invention,

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation showing the parts at the beginning of the wiping action,

Fig. 3 is a View in cross section along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the parts at the end ofthe downward wiping stroke, and

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of a counter molded on a machine equipped with a flange wiping mechanism constructed according to my invention.

My invention is not dependent upon the general organization of a counter molding machine, but comprises an improved flange wiping mechanism capable of being used with any of the molding machines now in factory use. My invention is most profitably employed in conjunction with a counter molding machine provided with a last-shaped plug, or center mold, 26 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, which has a pronounced concave curve in the outer face of its shank portion and which is cooperatively associated with a pair of side molds (not shown).

A flat rectangular metal plate I0 is provided with smoothly finished edge portions [2 and is adapted to slide vertically in guideways secured to the front of the machine outwardly of the plug 26. A wrist pin I4 is supported in a seat provided in open bearings l6 formed in the outer face of the plate 10, and a pair of locking pins l8 spanning the open side of the bearings I6 prevent the wrist pin from coming out of its seat.

A link 20 is pivotally connected to the pin I4 and is moved up and down from any convenient source of power at predetermined intervals in the cycle of the molding machine to move the plate to across the outer face of the plug 26 when the molds are closed. A fiat, highly finished wear plate 22 is secured in a broad groove in the in- 45 side face of the plate III by flat head screws 24. It is contemplated that the wear plate 22 can be conveniently replaced by a new one if it should become worn down in continued use.

Lugs 32 formed in the outer face of the plate l0 provide bearings for a pair of transverse studs 3! and these serve as pivot mountings for a pair of vertically disposed rocking levers 30. Threaded through the upper or long end of each lever 30 is a set screw 34 which bears against a compression spring 36 placed in a corresponding socket in the plate ID. The lower or short ends of the levers 30 project slightly below the wall of a recess in the lower or advancing edge of the plate I and carry a pivot pin 38 on which is mounted a solid auxiliary wiper 46 or curved shank fit set in the recess in the plate I0 and provided on its inner face with a gently curved recess 44 and a removable wear plate 42. The concave recess 44 corresponds in outline to the convex curved shape of the top of the plug 26.

It will be apparent that the auxiliary wiper 40 can be moved bodily with its axis 38 if sufficient pressure is applied to the inner face thereof to force the levers 30 to rock outwardly and compress the springs 36 by which the levers are backed up. Thus if a counter of unusual thick-- ness is placed on the plug 26 to be molded, the auxiliary wiper will yield before any damage is done either to the counter itself or to the wiping mechanism, and similarly, the wiper will follow up and shape the counter flange to the center mold regardless of the thickness of the blank being operated upon.

A pair of lugs 46 formed in the back of the auxiliary wiper 40 provide bearings for a pivot pin 48 which carries one end of a rod 50. The lower end of the rod 50 is threaded and carries a screw collar 54 which bears against the end of a stiff compression spring 52 surrounding the rod 50. The upper end of the rod 50 is supported in a transverse pivot pin 58 which is carried between a pair of lugs 56 formed in the outer surface of the plate l0. By manipulating the collar 54 the tension of the spring 52 can be adjusted.

' The function of the spring 52 is to limit the turning movement of the auxiliary wiper 40 about its pivot 38 and to provide a resilient resistance to such rotation.

As shown in Fig. 2 a counter blank 28 is placed for molding on the plug 26, the side molds are closed and the plate I0 is moved down by the link 20 until the inner surface of the plate [0 has engaged and turned down the upper or rear portion of the counter flange. As the plate In progresses down across the face of the plug 26 the auxiliary wiper 40 turns down the flange of the counter on the outwardly curved shank portion of the plug 26 with a combined wiping and rolling action. As the wiping movement progresses the contour of the shank portion of the plug forces the auxiliary wiper 4U bodily outward, rocking the levers 30 against the force exerted on them by the springs 36 Simultaneously the auxiliary wiper 40 is rocked about the pivot pin 38 against the action of the spring 52. The peak of these two movements is reached when the plate ID has descended to the position shown in Fig. 3. Thereafter the plate is retracted and the auxiliary wiper 40 is forced back to its initial position by the combined action of the springs 36 and .52.

As herein shown the wiping surface of the auxiliary wiper 40 is convex and substantially cylindrical at its lower end where it first engages the upstanding margin of the counter-blank and in this face is formed a symmetrically disposed concave recess 44 with downwardly diverging side walls as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The cylindrical surface of the wiper is curved on a radius about the axis of the pivot pin 38 and merges upwardly into a flat wiping surface. The auxiliary wiper 40 is thus adapted by reason of its contour to gather inwardly the outstanding margin of the blank and iron it down to form a flange following smoothly the convex curvature of the plug 26, as the wiper plate I0 moves downwardly. If the plate 42 becomes worn, the set screws 34 can be manipulated to increase the efiective pressure of the springs 36 or to push the auxiliary wiper farther in toward the surface of the plug 26. A pair of set screws 4| are threaded through the plate l0 and form stops for the lower ends of the levers 30 and thus control, with the screws 34, the position of the auxiliary wiper 40.

A counter which has been molded in a molding machine provided with a curved shank plug and the wiping mechanism of my invention has formed therein a permanent flange with a downwardly or outwardly curved break at its extremities, as shown at 29 in Fig. 4, instead of a flange which lies entirely in a single plane. It will be apparent that the wiping mechanism of my invention can be used with plugs difierently curved, since the auxiliary wiper is mounted for bodily movement as well as for turning; thus, the auxiliary wiper will follow smoothly plugs of various curvature and conform the counter flange accurately thereto.

Having thus described and illustrated my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a counter molding machine having a center mold with an outwardly curved shank portion, a reciprocatory carrier having a wiper member mounted therein for rocking movement and bodily outward movement and having a curved wiping face with a concave recess for receiving the rear flange portion of a counter blank located upon the center mold of the machine.

2. In a counter molding machine having a center mold with an outwardly curved shank portion, a reciprocatory carrier having a wiper member mounted therein for rocking and yielding movement and having a curved wiping face with a concave recess therein and that face merging into a subsequently acting fiat wiping face,

3. In a counter molding machine having a center mold provided with an outwardly curved shank portion, a reciprocatory carrier movable adjacent to the mold and having a pivotally mounted wiper member mounted for rocking and yielding movement, said wiper member having a curved wiping face for engaging themargin of a counter blank upon the center mold and the said face having therein a recess with outwardly diverging walls so located as to gather and shape the rear portion of the margin of theblank as the wiper is advanced for moldingit into conformity with the shank portion ofthe center mold.

CHARLES W. BAILEY. 

